The Mis(s)adventures of a Sales Girl
So, what happens when your worst-case scenario becomes reality? How many times can you pinch yourself before you realise that it cannot be avoided?
That is what we learn from ‘Mis(s) Adventures of a Sales Girl’ by debutant author, Aashisha Chakraborty.
Twenty-five-year-old Enakshi, a resident of Delhi, is a top-MBA student seeking placement news from the placement agency at her premier institute. Her mother is appalled when she learns that Enakshi has chosen ‘Sales and Marketing’ as her choice, and is appeased when Ena, as she is known, mollifies her that she would be the manager who would not be expected to run around making sales.
How fate must have giggled then! Enakshi lands a job for the next two months, not in Gurgaon as she had expected but in sweltering Chennai. And it was a sales job! She would have to visit different areas in a bid to promote the SIM cards her company sold.
Lost in a city where she didn’t speak the local language and is expected to generate a spike in sales while travelling double-seat on bikes is how Enakshi’s life plays out. The only oasis in the desert is Ram, her mentor, but he, like the desert, blows hot and cold simultaneously. With a boss who hates her, a job she cannot fathom, and a city that doesn’t understand her (and vice versa) describe how Ena’s life plays out.
Aashisha has brought out the girl-on-bike in a sales-driven job beautifully. The agony of not drinking too much water in summer, because, well, one needs to use the facilities, contrasted with lack of water during summer will cause dehydration, is something most women can relate! And with Ena being a germaphobe, not just any bathroom won’t do! Ena’s experiences of dealing with an unfamiliar (might I say, mildly unhelpful) city to do a job that requires a close connection with the locals rings true, and I felt for the young girl!
The book has a running thread where Ena’s mother, Rupa’s dark past is hinted at, and it all unravels towards the end, and this is where I felt the first stirring of a tad bit of unhappiness, but it sits well for a sequel that I am hoping that Aashisha is frantically typing on her laptop!
What I felt the book needed more was Ram-Ena's scenes and how they fell in love. Their ‘romance’ paled in front of the other realistic portrayal of Ena’s life.
When Ram ruminates over these lines, he steals my heart. (Well, it was already stolen by him when he first made his entrance, but you get what I am trying to say!)
Time like light, decides the way it moves around people. Sometimes, it moves in a straight line. And at times, it bends around certain obstacles to reach where it wants to reach.
Aashisha, I demand the next book. Fast! Please 😊
Verdict: If you are in the mood for a quick, gripping book that depicts reality, pick up ‘Mis(s) Adventures of a Sales Girl’ ASAP
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